I got done with This chapter sooner than I expected. Enjoy Fucko's!
Eighth match: Hinata Hyuuga vs. Neji Hyuuga.
When Hinata saw the board, her blood ran cold, and even Kiba had a look of terror on his face. Naruto saw the look of distress on Hinata and thought, 'Please let her make it out of this alive.' Sakura looked at Naruto and thought, 'Why is he so nervous? What's been up with him lately?' Gai looked at Naruto and thought, 'He most be worried about the Hinata girl, and he has every right to, seeing as Neji won't stop till he kills her.' Hayate said, "Will the two competitors please come to the arena floor?"
Hinata and Neji stood facing each other, and Neji said, "This is quite fortunate isn't it Hinata-sama? I get a chance to crush your worthless life, right here and now." Hinata visibly cringed, and Naruto began to grip the railing in anger. Neji continued, "You are weak, you only came into this exam to aid your teammates, am I correct?" Hinata shook her head, and said, "No, I entered to have a chance to change myself, to grow stronger then I am." Neji scoffed and said, "You can't change yourself, you're weak, and that will never change." Sakura heard was seemed like breaking metal next to her. She turned and saw the railing literally being twisted as Naruto's grip on it increased. Black water pooled at Naruto's feet, and started to boil, as if to show the same rage he felt. Then the oddest hing began to happen, they started to hear him sing, the song itself made Hinata feel stronger:
You say you know just who I am
But you can't imagine
What waits for you across the line
You thought you had me
But I'm still here standing
And I'm tired of backing down
And I'm here now feeling the pain
Of a thousand hearts
Been to hell and back again
I won't take this
You try so hard to bring me down
You can't break the broken
You still don't seem to understand
It's your turn to see just
How it feels to be me
How it feels to be knocked down
And you're here now feeling the pain
Of a thousand hearts
You've been to hell and back again
You can't take this
Remember
This feeling
How it feels to be alive
Now you see me through my eyes
And we're here now feeling the beat
Of a thousand hearts
Coming back to life again
We can make it
Remember
This feeling
Remember...
Hinata heard it all, and her back straightened, her eyes filled with confidence. Neji saw this and thought, 'How? How can she gain such strength from a simple song?' Kurenai and the other jonin were amazed, they knew Naruto could inspire someone, but not like this. Ino, Temari, and even Anko were touched, and they all thought, 'If only someone cared about me that way.' Hinata activated her Byakugan, and said, "You can't scare me Neji-niisan, I will make you see just how wrong you are about me." The thing that was a surprise was that there was never a stutter in her words. Neji scowled and said, "Let's get this over with." Hinata shocked everyone further by saying, "I couldn't agree more."
Naruto smirked, as Hayate said, "Let the match BEGIN." and jumped back to avoid getting hit. Hinata and Neji charged at each other, and started to exchange blows that seemed gentle to anyone who never saw Hyuuga before. Hinata swiped her at Neji's side, and Naruto said, "Not bad." Sakura said, "How is that not bad? She barely scraped him."
Naruto looked at her and said, "A single scrape is all that is needed, as unlike how Lee fights, where it's all about breaking bones and bashing skulls, the Hyuuga could kill you with a single tap, it's why their style is called the 'gentle fist'." Gai walked up to them and said, "He's completely right, it is because of that, that the Hyuuga are considered the strongest clan in the village when it comes to taijutsu."
Sakura turned to Naruto, and saw he was focused on the match, on more precise, focused on Hinata. Gai saw this and thought, 'My, from the report Kakashi gave after the wave mission, Naruto seems to have changed from what the jonin knew of him back at the academy. I can see it in his eyes, he was afraid for the girl. To be young and in love.' Neji seemed to have gained the upper hand, as no matter what Hinata hit him with, the only who was hurt was Hinata. Neji smirked, and said, "Just give up, you may be confident, but you are still weak." He grabbed her arm, and pulled back her sleeve, showing dark spots. He then said, "You never saw it coming, I blocked your tenketsu from the beginning. Just give up."
Naruto had a shocked look on his face, and he said, "Oh god no, don't tell me he's actually going to." Sakura looked at him and said, "What's going on? Why are you freaking out?" Naruto looked pale as a sheet as he said, "Hinata is from the main branch of the Hyuuga, while Neji is from the cadet, and neither side has had the most pleasant of experience with the other. The rift has become so bad, that I believe Neji may actually try to kill her."
Gai saw the pure panic in his eyes, and saw that Hinata collapsed to her knees, with Neji charging right at her. Everyone in the room heard a loud, "OH GOD NO, PLEASE NOT AGAIN, NEVER AGAIN. I WON'T LOSE SOMEONE ELSE." They saw what looked to be a black blob land in front of Neji, his hand blocked by the water. They saw Naruto standing in front, holding the water up, tendrils of water rising from his feet. Everyone couldn't help but think, 'What the hell happened to him?' Orochimaru, hidden as a jonin, thought, 'He has the power of the tears, so that's how it happened.' Neji saw the look on Naruto's face, and he saw a look of pure rage and hate. Naruto said, "Not another step, or I will kill you, you bastard." Neji was then restrained by the jonin, Sarutobi thinking, 'Is this the fox's doing?'
Hinata fully collapsed, and Naruto quickly turned to her, as did Kurenai. After unzipping Hinata's coat, Kurenai gasped and said, "She's in cardiac arrest, he really was trying to kill her." Naruto was thinking, 'Oh Kami please, not again, don't let this happen again.' Both Ophelia's heard his thoughts, and saw what was going on. And to say they were furious was an understatement. Naruto screamed, "GET THOSE MEDICS OUT HERE NOW DAMNIT." As the medic team rushed out, Hinata looked at Naruto and asked, "Did I change at all?" Naruto nodded and said, "You did, you really did Hinata-chan." Hinata smiled as she passed out, and was taken away by the medics. After she left, everyone felt a large Killer intent, as Naruto stood up. The tendrils of water returned, and grabbed Neji by the neck. They brought him straight in front of Naruto, as he said, "You better pray Hyuuga, that she makes it out of this alive, because if not, I will personally see to it that you end up IN THE GRAVE. IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?" Neji quickly shook his head, and everyone was shivering in fear, even Orochimaru. Ino, Temari, and Anko were the only ones who weren't. Anko was thinking, 'My Kami, so cold, so commanding, so HOT. I really wanna spend some time with this kid now.' Ino and Temari were thinking, 'He would go so far to defend her, god I wish I could find someone like that.' Kankuro and even Gaara backed away from their sister. Gaara heard his bijuu, and it was COWERING, practically screaming in fear. Naruto dropped Neji on his ass, and walked away, the tendrils disappearing. Naruto sat where his team was, and saw Kankuro walk over to him, looking nervous.
Kankuro asked, "Man, that last fight was crazy huh? What do you know about that Neji kid?" Naruto's expression darkened, as he said, "I'll kill that bastard, no matter what." Kankuro shivered, and walked back to his team, thinking, 'Geez, that kid is really pissed. I hope Temari isn't gonna try.' Contrary to his thoughts, he saw Temari walk over to where Naruto was, and sit down next to him. Sakura saw this and said, "Get away from him." Naruto turned a cold gaze over to her, and said, "She can sit where she wants, as unlike you, she's trying to be nice. Now why don't YOU leave ME alone for once."
Everyone who knew Naruto was wide-eyed, as they never heard him say anything rude or nasty to her. Temari sat closer, and said, "You seem upset about what happened to that girl, mind telling me about it?" Naruto looked at her and said, "Maybe later, too many ears." Temari nodded, and said, "Alright, you don't mind me sitting here do you?" Naruto merely shook his head and said, "Not at all, stay as long as you like." Temari smiled, and sat next to him, as they saw the next match.
Ninth match: Gaara vs. Rock lee.
Temari looked at the board and said, "I hate to say it, but that lee kid is not gonna make it out of here in one piece." Naruto looked down and said, "Lee's tougher then you would think, just watch and see." Temari saw the match, while Naruto was off in his mind, having been called there by D-Ophelia. He walked over to the right side of the field, and felt someone hug him from behind. He turned and saw D-Ophelia, and asked, "Why ask for the visit?" D-Ophelia led him to a log that was laying down, and patted a seat next to her. She then said, "We saw what happened, and after this, prelims you called it, we'll be teaching you how to command the army of the Tears, The Drowned Doom. But to know of them, we need to teach you about the factions themselves. We've compiled a guide on the three factions, here." She gave him what looked like a notebook, and he opened it to see a page on the Drowned Doom, with a picture of each unit, and a description. The first entry read:
Gravediggers: The Doom's bread and butter infantry. A single Gravedigger is weaker than both a Soul Kisser or a Headbanger, but you get more per squad. Decent to start off with because of the number advantage, but later on you'll wanna stop using them otherwise they'll fill up your army with subpar units. Double teaming with them is alright for getting sneaky, but otherwise takes too long and doesn't deal enough damage to be used in the heat of battle.
He saw a picture of what looked like a group of teenagers, each wearing the faction logo, a fallen raven with an ankh. They each carried a shovel and had matted hair. He read further:
Bride: Never ever EVER underestimate the Bride. The competent use of this unit can make or break your army. At maximum limit you can have three Brides, and their effects stack. This means with three Brides the enemy will be moving at a quarter of their natural speed. Which also means they'll attack at a quarter of their normal speed. That's incredibly potent. As soon as available, Brides should be the first unit to get the upgrade treatment, if not the only unit to get the upgrade treatment, depending on your attitude towards Frightwigs. Double teaming with them takes the Bride's passive bonus and includes the ability to use their lightning defenses at whim, meaning the Bride becomes a Lightning Rod in her own right. Upgraded Brides, as far as I can tell, get stronger lightning, and of course their slowing bonus sticks with them. Which is hugely useful.
He saw a picture of a woman dressed in a wedding gown, carrying an umbrella, and followed by a storm-cloud.
Frightwig: Frightwigs have slightly greater range than Punishing Parties and Razor Girls, giving them those few extra hits before the bad guys can return fire, and they're pretty sturdy to boot. Alone, that's really all you can say for them, but Frightwig have another, potentially destructive feature. Their double team allows Ophelia to hurl the Frightwig at an enemy, and the Frightwig then takes control of that unit. A portion of the damage directed at the unit is split to the Frightwig, and until either the Frightwig dies, or the unit does, that unit will be on your side. If you keep a few Frightwig around, it'll pay off a lot late game, because aside from the Coil's hierarchy class, Tick Choppers, and Bleeding Death, any unit can be taken. This means Ironheade's Rock Crusher can be yours for a single Frightwig. If the Tainted Coil is bringing one of its dreaded Heart Cutters toward you, you can take it for yourself and make life easier.
He saw a picture of what looked like a woman's head, and nothing else. It looked to get around by having the hair act as legs.
Ratgut: Absolutely devours enemy infantry. Haha, c wot I did thar? Seriously though, if you have two or three Ratguts in your army, enemy infantry are null. If you double team with a Ratgut, enemy infantry won't even touch you, and you can control the hordes of vermin in their attacks without having to wait for that weird reload action the Ratgut has where he redevours his mice before coughing them up again. Alongside Brides, Ratgut basically end infantry. Personally I prefer them to Reapers.
He saw a picture of a man with an enlarged stomach, wore a black coat, and had a bang of hair on his head.
Organist: "Your weapons and swords have been made dull by... THE ORGANIST!" This guy likes the sound of his name, but he's got a decent reason: the Organist makes enemy attacks do less damage. That can be a real life saver for obvious reasons, so never leave home without one. I think the bonuses stack, but if you've already got three Brides then more than one is probably unnecessary. Feel free to leave one back at base to stop the bad guys dealing too much damage if they sneak up on you though. The Organists double team allows you to take direct control of enemy units, however doing so means you won't be doing anything for a while, so I don't recommend doing it for anything.
He saw a picture of a ghostly figure driving a large vehicle fitted to look more like a giant organ then anything else.
Lightning Rod: The Lightning Rod is basically the Doom's version of the Headsplitter from Ironheade, except when double teaming with it you can charge your delightfully frying friend so that his lightning arcs across multiple enemies. A useful vehicle for ranged damage and crowd control, but other than that I don't really have much to say about him.
He saw a man strapped to a chair on top of a large vehicle, lightning arcing off of him.
Reaper: Another infantry destroyed, the Reaper is a quick trooper that dashes around the battlefield draining the life of infantry. He's pretty potent, however he only attacks one enemy at a time, so I never bother with more than one: Ratguts create an area of effect around them. However, once again (a common theme with the Doom) their greatest powers are unlocked via double team, where they cause enemy troops to forsake attacking and simply start running away. A bit of practice in how Ophelia swings the scythe and you'll be able to harvest some souls of your very own! If nothing else, double teaming with a Reaper is pretty fun.
He saw what looked like a man riding a horse, wearing a torn cloak and had a large scythe in his hand.
Brood: Ah, as soon as you get access to this unit the Drowning Doom is immune to any further Fire Baron rushes enemies might put forward. This unit is cheap, takes up little room in the infantry, and dismantled vehicles like it's nobodies business. Those creepy piranha dolls wheel around the battlefield in their baby carriage and taking a few with you gets rid off the enemy vehicles quicksmart. Double teaming with a Brood allows you to drive and sets up an attack called "Mamakaze". It's useful, but you'll lose the Brood in the process, so don't waste it. If there's a squad of enemy vehicles you need brought down though, like say a few Thunderhogs at the back lines of an enemy army buffing them, then Mamakaze will rip them to pieces like nothing.
Dirgible: Limit one. Because that's all you'll ever need. Not to be confused with Dirigible, the Dirgible is a mobile fortress weakening machine. Just look at the lovely effects it applies to the ground around it. If any enemy merch booths happen to be in the radius of the Dirgible, they'll be weakened, and your troops will have a much easier time pulling them down. In fact, this even goes for the enemy stage. If you get a Dirgible to the enemy stage alongside your army, they're Doomed. Double teaming with this delightful machine causes it to soar high into the sky, out of reach from most foes. You can then bomb the field with funeral urns, raining ashes upon the field that give your guys a healing boost and eat away at the enemy, which is a potent ability.
Treeback: The final unit for the Doom is considered the weakest of the three factions ultimate units. And, well... it's true in a lot of ways. The Rock Crusher buffs nearby troops, kills everything in front of it as it moves, and double teaming produces the Bladehenge Solo, which really terrorizes. The Coil has the Bleeding Death, and well, it's a friggin' Bleeding Death. Still, don't let that discourage you. Treeback isn't as flat out powerful as the other super units, he's a ranged platform for his crows, which will tear into enemy infantry and vehicle alike. Double teaming with him reveals his true form: the largest unit in the game. This guy wrestles Hate Cages for fun. Stomping around with Treeback's full form revealed is the end of infantry and small vehicle alike.
He saw a picture of a large creature with a tree on its back, a flock of crows surrounding him.
The Doom comes equipped with all your standard solos of course, fan tribute, summon flag, rally army, summon vehicle alongside their unique, and some extremely useful, solos.
Silence: A simple solo that stops the enemy avatar from playing their guitar or issuing orders. Don't underestimate the use of this solo, played at the right time it'll cause a lot of pain amongst an enemy army. Your enemy could send their army after a merch booth while you sneak yours towards their stage. Drop in, play silence, and then smash their stage head-on. The enemy avatar won't be able to tell their troops to get back and defend base for about thirty seconds, and they'll be barred from solos at the same time. Highly useful if you're quick to the draw.
Black Tear Infusion: For whenever you're defending a spot. If your army has just taken a few hits from an enemy rush and you need to hold the choke point while you build up some better dudes or upgrade your stage, a Black Tear Infusion will keep them alive that little bit longer, and it looks pretty to boot.
Shadow Blast: The Doom's answer to Ironheade's Facemelter and the Coil's Curse, Shadow Blast applies a debuff to the enemy, which is useful if you use this solo near a bigger enemy, however usually by the time you've pulled off the solo you're already focusing on bringing it down. Utilize it against something like an Overblesser while your army charges forward and then leap back out of the carnage so that its weakened attacks can do less to your troops instead of you. The explosion itself deals a good chunk of damage.
Encompassing Gloom: One of the Doom's most potent solos. Encompassing Gloom halts unit production of the enemy entirely. This is significantly more useful than Ironheade's Rock Block, because that only applies to the stage, meaning the Tainted Coil's ability to breed on the field is completely unhindered, while Encompassing Gloom apparently dims the Coil's attitude so much they don't even feel like birthing troops. ("Those poor demons" I hear you say) Using this while you're marching on an enemy stage basically means they're going to die, and using it while defending will give you a little while to gather yourself up and get ready for a big strike. Generally, this is an incredibly useful solo, so make good use of it.
Baleful Misdirection: This one is a bit of an oddball solo, it creates a fake unit that won't actually deal any damage but looks real to the enemy. You can play it and add the ghostly unit to your army, but that won't be putting it to the most effective use. The best way to utilize your fake is to distract the enemy, making it a large, obvious one like an Organist or Lightning Rod and then sending it barreling towards one of their fan geysers. The enemy will assume it's an attack and send some dudes down to take it on, only to have it poof out of existence as you laugh at them and break down the merch booth you were really attacking! You fiend!
Veil of Deceit: Now this one is a really useful solo. Playing this renders all troops in the vicinity invisible unless the enemy is close. That means you can trot up to their base and then suddenly spring from nowhere into a fully formed attack. Just remember to play the solo in the middle of your army, otherwise a few on the fringe might not get covered. However, it can be quite amusing to imagine the look on the enemies face as they see that one Bride you missed come gliding towards their stage only to have an entire army materialize behind them. That Bride just got a whole lot cooler.
Weeping Heavens: The destructive supersolo of the Doom, Weeping Heavens lives up to its name, functioning essentially like Bring It On Home, but with less fire and more tears. What more can I say? It pulverizes the bad guys and the good guys and every other fool that hasn't taken a sip from the Sea of Tear
He saw a page that had the music notes for each solo, which he never thought he would understand, but he saw them and knew them. He saw the next pages were about Ironheade.
Ironheade Units:
Headbangers: The mighty Headbangers of Ironheade are both the group's namesake and its soul. They have been forced to work in General Lionwhyte's mines for years with no tools or equipment, being forced to "break solid rock with nothing but their own thick skulls". This led to two factions rising between the Headbangers. The tattooed and deep-voiced Headbangers, which join Ironheade, and the Hairbangers, who have higher-toned voices and bright, stylized hair that support the cruelty enforced upon them.
Razor Girls: Armed with the highly flammable husks of the wild Razorfire Boar, the Razor Girls bring ranged death to Ironheade's enemies. They are better placed in the back of the fight, as they usually clump into tight bunches when the squads are firing, leaving them open to attacks by some of the larger units with area attacks such as Bleeding Death or Rock Crushers. Ophelia rescued the Razor Girls from Lionwhyte's Pleasure Tower with help from the stealthy Roadies. The Razor Girls remained loyal to Ironheade after Ophelia abandoned the faction to start the Drowning Doom, insisting if asked that they would be capable of fighting directly against their former savior.
Thunderhogs: Led by Kill Master, the reclusive Thunderhog riders are less focused on doing damage than they are on healing it.
Thunderhogs, like all bassists, have a natural ability to swoon girls to their side using their mystic mojo.
Fire Barons: A clan of outlaw humans, the Fire Barons strive to live only for the next battle, or the next bottle. Or both, that would be fine.
They are led by The Baron and belong to the Ironheade faction. Riding motorbikes that tear up the ground like crazy, the Fire Barons leave an inferno of flames in their tracks as they thunder across the land. Although they ordinarily just do this for fun, they can circle their enemies to effectively trap them in a ring of fire.
Headsplitter: "Based on General Lionwhyte's legendary defensive installation in the Cleave of the Impaler, the Headsplitter is a ranged vehicle that is both powerful and versatile."
The Headsplitter is the first offensive vehicle unit that Ironheade can acquire. Unusually, it is one of the few pieces of Ironheade equipment that Eddie Riggs did not build himself; a trio of Headbangers, upon finding a fallen chunk of General Lionwhyte's defense installations in the Cleave of the Impaler, reverse-engineered it and slapped some wheels and an engine on. The trio can be found before Stage Battles in the main storyline, polishing up their ride and maintaining it; by this, it can be assumed that it requires three Headbangers to operate the device, though they are not seen on the unit itself.
The Headsplitter's most valuable contribution to Ironheade is its skill at destroying vehicles. Ironheade has a pronounced weakness when it comes to fighting vehicles, as Razor Girls cannot keep up with the increased enemy health until they are upgraded at Stage Level 3, and most vehicles have a ranged attack that destroys both Fire Barons and Headbangers before they become a threat. Headsplitters have none of these problems, and do enough raw damage per shot to make up for their relatively slow firing rate. It is also the longest-ranged unit in Ironheade's arsenal, not counting the Bladehenge Solo Double-Team that the Rock Crusher bears. Combined, these two traits mean that in one on one fights against all other vehicles except the Pain Lifter, the Headsplitter wins.
Bouncers: A proud warrior class, the Bouncers make up in strength and determination what they lack in intelligence, patience, and basic social skills. Some say their cast iron battle fists hide impossibly delicate, carefully manicured hands.
Roadie: The stealthy Roadies are capable of producing feedback sufficient to bring down even the largest structure. How something with that big a speaker can stay hidden is unknown, although if you watched the intro, you would know why they're called roadies.
The Roadies, before being named as such, originally helped Ophelia smuggle women out of Lionwhyte's Pleasure Dome through the otherwise impenetrable Cleave of the Impaler. When Eddie met them, he decided to bring them into the fighting forces of Ironheade after outfitting them with powerful amps taken from the Screaming Wall.
Metal beasts: Tamed only by the gentle touch of the Zaulia, Metal Beasts are a vicious foe in battle against infantry. In game, they cost 200 Fans for a single Metal Beast but decimate infantry quickly. Sadly, they tend to be easy to slay by harassing enemy avatars as they will hang back and shock your Metal Beast only to fly away once it gets too close. For best combat results, Double Team with it since the Metal beast will be able to spit fire far faster with Eddie on it.
Rock crusher: The Rock Crusher is the ultimate portable stage, when it's time to take the metal to your enemies' front door. After the battle in the Dry Ice Mines, Eddie sees one of the pieces of equipment to the mines, a large rock crushing roller. He notes that it's something dangerous, "and I like it". This new discovery inspires him to build a second, mobile stage for Ironheade. And thus the most powerful unit of Ironheade was created.
Ironheade solos:
Relic Raiser: Relic Raiser is one of the many solos that Eddie learns. Unearth the ancient secrets of the Titans with this guitar solo. Any buried structure that is nearby will respond to the music and rise out of the ground. Among other things, this is useful for gaining access to Motor Forges throughout the Flowers grow near buried Titan structures.
Summon Deuce: Also known as "Drop a Deuce", the Summon Deuce Guitar Solo will summon the Deuce to your location from anywhere in the world. This is tremendously useful in the singleplayer campaign, as walking pretty much anywhere would take forever, but in multiplayer mode, where all players can fly and the Deuce cannot be upgraded with weapons and armor, it's more or less useless. However, despite it's lack of upgrades, the vehicle can be used for crowd control by running large groups down. This can buy time for your units to arrive when a fan geyser is threatened.
Anvil of Burden: This mighty Guitar Solo attaches the heavy anvil of the Titans to the legs of enemy avatars slowing them down and making them unable to fly. All avatars flying above your location will come crashing down to meet their fate.
Facemelter: Eddie Riggs' Facemelter Guitar Solo is arguably the signature solo. Unlike a facemelting guitar solo on Earth, in the Brütal World, the Facemelter is so awesome that it will literally melt the faces off of nearby enemies. If successful, it is instantly fatal to most, if not all, enemy units in range, including such powerful units as Bouncers and Organists.
Bring it on home: This solo, when played by Eddie brings forth a flaming zeppelin that will strike nearby and deal massive damage to anything unlucky enough to be nearby!
Battle cry: Use Battle Cry to motivate your surrounding troops to fight harder with an inspirational solo. All affected friendly units will deal extra damage for a short time.
Battle Cry is learned during the mission "Exploited in the Bowels of Hell" early in the game. In this mission, the solo is used to inspire the imprisonedHeadbangers to join Eddie in revolting against Lionwhyte. The tab for Battle Cry is inscribed on Lars' sword, and a flaming version of the sword appears in Eddie's left hand when he finishes the solo.
Rock Block: This solo causes several large rocks to pile up on the enemy's stage when played, stapled in a manner similar to that of Stonehenge. this causes the enemy to not be able to summon any units from their stage.
Call of the Wild: When Eddie Riggs performs the Call of the Wild Guitar Solo, he summons the mighty beasts of the Brutal World to fight by his side. Beasts summoned in this manner are loyal to Eddie and Ironheade by default, and can be Double Teamed without stunning them first. In addition, they will never attack friendly units. The exact animals summoned vary: in the singleplayer campaign, the Solo is unlocked by completing the first Overslaughter hunting mission for the Hunter; from then on, the beasts summoned by Call of the Wild are the creatures targeted in the most recent level of Overslaughter that Eddie has completed. In Multiplayer mode, the creature summoned depends upon the current level of Ironheade's technology.
Light of Dawn: Erase the effects of the enemy buffs and debuffs.
This crazy number causes the sky to turn bright orange calling the sun to the aid of Ironheade. While the glorious sunrise is out, the enemy faction's buffs and debuffs are no longer in effect. This solo is the absolute bane of the Drowning Doom.
Tainted coil units:
Hierarchy units:
Battle Nun: "Aha! Knew it. Big ugly demon... Kinda sexy though, in a weird way."
-Eddie Riggs comments on his first encounter with a Battle Nun.
Lithe, elegant, and deadly, the Battle Nun is the most common of the Coil's prestigious Hierarchy class.
Warfathers: The noble Warfathers represent the elite of the Coil's hierarchy class. By reading prayers from their Unholy Tomes, they unleash powerful ranged attacks on enemies.
Overblesser: The Overblesser is the singular leader of the Coil's hierarchy class. He strides righteously across the battlefield and passes fiery judgement upon his foes from atop a ghastly four-legged altar. Eddie Riggs uses one of these altars to escape from the Awesome Corpse Pile after he first arrived at the Brütal World, though that altar was ridden by a Battle Nun, not an Overblesser.
Minion Units:
Soul kisser: The Soul Kisser is a leather-clad scissor-headed maiden of pain.
Punishing party: The Dominatrices' love for their Slave is almost as potent as their hatred of Doviculus ' enemies. However, in the end, both are treated similarly.
Skull raker: The Skull Raker may have the mind of a demented infant, but he's got the body of a much larger, even more demented infant. With a detachable head on the end of a chain, they are a force to be reckoned with as they use their head like a flail. They appear as very dumb creatures, but that doesn't stop them from causing severe damage to enemies, and praising Doviculus.
Screamwagon: The Screamwagon provides support and motivation to Coil forces. Support vehicle summoned from Warfathers. Superior version available from Superior Warfathers. A highly efficient mobile torture device, the Screamwagon transforms the suffering of the unfortunate soul tied to it into powerful buffs for the soldiers of the Tainted Coil. The wagon cycles between three different tortures, and thus three different buffs for nearby allies: Dousing the victim in boiling oil improves unit armor and reduces damage taken, stretching the victim on the rack causes a powerful boost to the warrior's strength, increasing the damage they can dish out, and blasting the victim with flames accelerates the build speed of lesser units from Hierarchy Units. Duplicate buffs don't stack, but multiple Screamwagons set to different buffs will effect all units with all active buffs.
Screamwagons do tend to require a fair bit of micromanagemen in terms of keeping the best buff up for the situation, they also have an unfortunate tendency to lag too far to the back of larger armies where their buff radius wont reach your front-line troops. Usually it's just a good idea to jump aboard and move them to the center of your army once battle gets going. Watch out as enemy avatars will tend to single screamwagons out.
Pain Lifters: Pain Lifters take a core of sharp, disease-ridden medical waste and grow a helpless creature around it, informally named the "Agony Ball". When hurled at the Coil's foes, the Ball explodes and rains years of accumulated suffering upon its target.
Heart cutter: The Heart Cutter's sacrificial hearts are selected for muscle mass, blood flow, and ripeness. Originally human victims were used, but the Druids(who are otherwise unrelentingly vicious) proved more squeamish than Doviculus had expected.
Hate cage: The Hate Cage is really two distinct creatures - the gigantic (if mindless) legs and the caged demon, who is nothing more than a twisted lump of pure, unfiltered hate.
Massive ranged infantry. Caged demon spits liquid hate at enemies. Any foes standing near the cage will also be soaked in hate, causing them to take more damage from attacks.
Tick choppers: Only summonable by guitar solo, Tick Choppers are impractical under most battle conditions. However, on occasion, their unique demeanor and deadly blood-draining tick attack is a perfect fit for a specific tactical situation. However, Tick Choppers have a limited lifespan, about two minutes. After that time, they self-destruct. Therefore, it is impossible to create an army consisting entirely of Tick Choppers.
Bleeding Death:"Prior to battle, the loathsome Bleeding Death is stuffed violently into its ballistic Iron Maiden Cannon. When the maiden is fired and the Bleeding Death is finally unleashed upon the battlefield, it brings with it complete destruction. Mortally perforated by its prison, the creature slowly bleeds to death, even while bringing destruction to its foes."
Massive melee infantry, not a unit that requires much or even anything in the way of strategy or tactics. Simply drop your bleeding death in front of an opponent's stage or in the middle of his attacking army and that's the extent of it, truly a "bigger hammer" unit.
Tainted coil solos:
Summon Chariot: This solo summons Emperor Doviculus' personal Chariot to him from anywhere in the world. However, as Doviculus is only playable in multiplayer mode, where all players can fly, and the Chariot cannot be upgraded with weapons or armour, this isn't a particularly useful solo.
However, it does look awesome and can make charging an enemy stage that much more dramatic.
Launch of death: Order in death from above; you must first recruit a Bleeding Death for the cause.
After purchasing a Bleeding Death from the stage, this Guitar Solo calls down an Iron Maiden onto the location you were standing in, and releases the Bleeding Death to begin its rampage. Since Bleeding Deaths don't obey orders, and are only on the battlefield for a limited time, this solo both increases and decreases the efficiency of the Coil's ultimate monstrosity. The iron maiden causes MASSIVE damage to any one or any thing near the landing sight and can instantly kill most units. You will die yourself if you remain still after the solo is done.
Summon Agony Boil: Creates an Agony Boil near Doviculus' location when he performs it. The Agony Boil acts like a Proximity Mine, blowing up when any nearby enemy units are in range. It doesn't really do THAT much damage at first, but if given time it will grow in size and power until it's explosion can kill most Infantry(Headbangers, Razor Girls and the like) in one hit. It helps that you have access to this Solo immediately, without even needing to upgrade your stage, so you can mess up the enemy's Geyser-claiming forces with it.
Skies Afire: Light a spark in the dark. The air turns black as lightning strikes overhead. You see ominous red dust faintly blowing in the wind. The land seems hellish, as if everythings turned... TAINTED.
The weather becomes the same as the weather in Bladehenge after the long three months in deaths clutch, until the end of the final mission. As long as the weather is active, all ally units will deal extra damage the closer they are to the home Stage.
Useful in defending the stage, of course, but also helps to set the mood when you're about to claim victory.
Chains of Hell: Playing this solo will cause nearby enemy avatars to be chained to the ground and unable to do anything for a small amount of time.
Martyrdom: When this solo is activated Doviculus uses his own heart as a guitar pick; nearby units will be inspired and attack faster at the expense of leaving Doviculus on the brink of death until he regenerates.
Curse: This destructive guitar solo creates a explosion of blood and gore to knock back nearby enemies. They are also infected and are dealt Damage over time.
Summon Tick Choppers: Summon Tick Choppers is a unique Guitar Solo that can only be played by Doviculus of the Tainted Coil, it becomes available after the first stage upgrade. Once played, this solo summons a squad of four Tick Choppers from your stage. After summoning them, they are under your command. The Coil's army must have room for the Choppers before the solo can be played. They're great for rapidly harassing an opponent's merch booth thus pulling away his avatar or forcing him to move units, shoring up an offensive in danger of losing momentum and also extremely effective at chasing basic enemy infantry rushes off your stage. They're easily outclassed by pretty much anything tougher than basic infantry but they're essentially free and can cause your opponent a real headache early in the game so you may as well summon some up as soon as you absolutely can.
Naruto finished reading, amazed at the info on all of the factions, but he noticed something, "Where are the notes for the Tainted coil and Ironheade's solos?" D-Ophelia sighed and said, "We never saw those, the only ones we have are from the Drowned Doom. If you find the other solos, I have no doubt you can use them." Naruto smirked and said, "Well, the Doom certainly are impressive, and I can guess that they are actually zombies?" D-Ophelia nods and says, "Yes they are, each and every one of them. Disturbing right?" Naruto nods, but says, "Looks don't matter, whether or not they can fight is the question, and it certainly seems that way." D-Ophelia then says, "Well, it seems time's up, your being called." She moves closer and says, "Try and stop by later, I'll show you how to use what you read, okay?" Naruto nodded, and hugged her, saying, "I'll be back, I just have some things to take care of." After he faded out, D-Ophelia thought, 'He is way too much like Eddie, I wonder,'
(Arena)
Temari nudged him awake, and said, "The Hokage is about to speak." Naruto looks up and see sarutobi had started to speak.
"Due to many of you being here, the oh so great civilian council decided to have a one on three match for the remaining rain-nin against Naruto Uzumaki."said sarutobi with a venom on the word civilian
The rain-nin are smirking up a storm thinking they got a easy win. Naruto, well he got that devil's grin cemented on his face.
Naruto jumped down to the floor and drew Annihilation and Demolition. Hayate said "Ready? …. Fight!"
Naruto slammed his fist into the ground and shouted "Earth Style: Pillars of the Wasteland jutsu"
The floor shaked and hundreds of stone pillars rose out of ground. Naruto wasn't down yet, he made one hand sign and shouted "Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu"
The entire floor was covered in mist no one could see what was going on down there. All of a sudden they screams and explosions.
(In the mist before the screams)
The rain-nin were looking around franticly trying to find the blonde boy. Sudden their friend screams they look to see that he has to cuts on his chest and he explodes in front of them covering them in blood and guts. The leader of three trying of a way to get out of here, his teammate yells "Help Me!" Turns to his teammate to see that he's being dragged away by some kinda black water. The leader jumps up, he clears the mist. But then he saw naruto waiting in front of him with Annihilation coming at downward slash. The blade slashed his chest, he didn't even had time to scream before he turned to dust and crumbled away before everyone's eyes. Everyone in the tower had wide eyes from shock and fear.
Hayate said with shock "Winner Naruto Uzumaki"
(Few Minutes Later)
Hayate said, "Now that you all have won, you will each reach into this box, and pick a number, this will decide who you will face in the finals." Anko walked to each Genin with a box, and as each reached inside, they called their number:
Neji: 2
Naruto: 1 (everyone shivered at the evil look he had)
Gaara: 3
Kankuro: 5
Shino: 6
Temari: 7
Shikamaru: 9
Dosu: 8
Sasuke: 4 (only spot left)
Thus creating the lineup:
Match 1: Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuuga
Match 2: Gaara vs. Sasuke Uchiha
Match 3: Kankuro vs. Shino Aburame
Match 4: Temari vs. Dosu
Shikamaru vs. Winner of match 4
Everyone saw that Naruto had a dark look on his face, and they thought, 'That Neji kid is a dead man.' Hell, even Orochimaru was nervous at seeing that face. Naruto walked out, after hearing that the finals were to take place after a month break.
(Unknown Location)
Naruto arrived at a waterfall in the middle of the a clearing. He walked over to the waterfall, walked be hind it and found Kin there burning her ninja headband. She turned around to find naruto looking at her. She asks "So what now?"
Naruto turned to the enternce and said, "Right now, we need to check by the hospital, then the Hokage's office." Kin nodded, and as they left the room, she held tightly to his arm, a scene which both Ophelia thought, 'She did have a crush on him, this is certainly interesting.' Naruto and Kin left for the Hospital, a sight that many of the villagers commented on, saying that 'The demon must be controlling that girl.', or, 'Why would any girl want to be near HIM?'. When a foolish villager tossed a stone at Naruto's head, but missed and hit Kin, Naruto had a tendril of water grab the fool by the neck and slam him into a wall, saying, "This sort of shit is OVER. While I may not give a damn about what happens to me, if you harm someone I care about I WILL make you suffer, GOT IT!" EVERY villager quickly got out of their way, and no one said a word.
When they entered the Hospital, Naruto approached the receptionist and asked, "Which room is Hinata Hyuuga in?" The receptionist was about to answer, until she looked up at who spoke, then she said, "Why should I tell filth like YOU? Now get out of here before I call the ANBU de-"Her words were cut off, as Naruto grabbed her by the neck, and she saw the coldest eyes. Naruto said, "I won't ask again, what room is Hinata Hyuuga staying in?" The receptionist chocked out, "Room 206." Naruto dropped her, and went to the room with Kin following.
Naruto knocked, and the call of "Come in" he opened the door and saw Hinata sitting upright in the bed. She looked at him and said, "I'm glad you came, the doctors said that if you didn't intervene, I would of died." Naruto sat on the bed, and Kin merely sat of to the side, and Naruto said, "Neji will pay for what he did, I swear it." Hinata held Naruto's hand, and said, "At least leave him alive, my clan will kill you if you don't." Naruto sighed, and said, "I will, if only for your sake." Kin giggled at the sight, and Hinata asked, "Who's she?" Kin answered, "My name is Kin, Naruto-sama saved me from being raped by a former teammate." Hinata looked at Naruto, and said, "Honestly?" Naruto nodded his head.
Hinata said, "Well I'm not surprised, you are the kind of person to do that." Naruto smirked and said, "I wish I could stay, but I must prepare for the finals. Let's go Kin, we have yet to meet the Hokage." Kin followed Naruto out of the room, and Naruto saw Hiashi walking toward the room he just left. Hiashi said, "Fancy meeting you here, I assume you will be facing my nephew in the finals?" Naruto's eyes darkened as he said, "I am, and he will suffer for what he did. I don't want to hear any sob stories, he acted the way he did regardless of anyone else, and he will pay for it." Hiashi grew fearful, and said, "Alright, just don't kill him, the elders will be after you if you do."
Naruto scoffed and walked off, Hiashi let go of the shiver he had been holding. As Naruto and Kin entered the Hokage's office, Sarutobi could feel a headache coming on. Naruto asked, "I think it's time we talked old man, I need answers." Sarutobi was sweating, and he asked, "About what?" Naruto said, "My parents, I had an interesting experience in the forest, and I would like to know just who they were." Sarutobi pinched his nose and said, "It seems I can't keep it a secret anymore huh? Well then, I guess I can tell you, after your little performance. Your father was our beloved fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, while your mother was Kushina Uzumaki. I can understand if you're upset, but, your father made me swear not to tell till you could protect yourself."
Naruto said, "And I proved it by how I acted? I see." Sarutobi went over to a safe hidden behind a picture of the fourth, and took out a set of keys. He said, "These are the key to the clan estate, it's the most I can give right now, as the rest you will get when you make chunin." Naruto then said, "I would also like miss Kin here to stay under my protective custody, seeing as she can't trust her own village." Sarutobi's headache just got worse.
(timeskip-day before the exams)
Naruto stood in front of the Sea of Black Tears, Kin safe at home. He was listening to D-Ophelia's instructions, as she said, "To form the guitar, you have to command the water in the same way as those tendrils you've been making. We're doing this by the Sea as it will be easier to do. Now focus on the form and shape of the guitar, and let the water shape it." Naruto closed his eyes, and thought of what it should look like. The black water formed at his hand, and soon the shape of his guitar, then the guitar itself. When his hand touched the guitar neck, a rush of info poured into his head, the memories of how D-Ophelia played each solo, D-Ophelia whistled, as it was one nasty looking guitar.
D-Ophelia couldn't help but stare, as he formed a unique weapons to use, and had it on his back just as Eddie used to. He started walking with the guitar on his back. Naruto thought, 'I have a good idea for when I face that bastard Neji.' As he planned his entrance, D-Ophelia and Ophelia started to grin and even started to laugh.
(Namikaze compound)
Naruto walked through the door, and was immediately glomped on his way in. He said, "Must you do that Kin?" Said girl looked up, and said, "Of course Naruto-sama, I'm just glad you're home." Kin took to wearing a maid's outfit, even though Naruto took her shopping yesterday. He quit trying to talk her out of it. Naruto heard D-Ophelia ask, "Are the troops ready yet?" to which Naruto replied, "They are, thanks to info from Kin, sound won't know what hit them. The invasion will be a true horror show." D-Ophelia's grin widened, as she said, "Good, the girl is reliable, though I wonder why she acts the way she does." Naruto laid down, and was almost asleep, when he saw Kin enter in nothing but her underwear, and thinking he was asleep, laid down next to him on the bed, and quietly fell asleep. Naruto thought, 'If only she lived, then she might be here too.'
Little did he know, things were happening that he never expected.
(Day of the finals- arena)
Sarutobi sat in the Kage booth, a couple of jonin standing as his guard. He saw the 'Kazekage' approach, flanked by two of his guards. He got out of his seat and said, "I'm glad you could make it, how was your trip?" The 'Kazekage chuckled, and said, "It was easy for me, now if it were you, I doubt you could of made it to Suna, have you picked a Godaime yet?" Sarutobi chuckled and said, "Sorry, I haven't yet, seeing as I have a few years left in me. Now come, sit, there's a special performance before the first match."
We see rest of the rookies that were not in the finals, one seat next to Kin, Sakura and Ino in front of her. Ino asked, "Do you know when Naruto-kun will show up?" Kin shook her head, and Sakura said, "Why bother with that loser, Sasuke-kun will demolish the competition." Ino looked at her rival with wide eyes, seeing her dismiss her own teammate so easily. Ino thought, 'I hope Naruto-kun comes soon, and show them all up.' Then asked "Has anyone seen Hinata?" No one answered her. Kakashi and Sasuke stood next to them, looking onward to see the start. Genma, the proctor of the exam, said, "Unfortunately, one of our competitors died over the month, so the matches are slightly changed. Now would Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuuga please step forward." Neji looked around and saw that Naruto wasn't there, so he scoffed and said, "It seems he was all talk, what a failure."
Kin grew worried, looking for where Naruto could be, but then she saw something disturbing. A light fog started to roll in, and the sky seemed to dim in a haunting gloom. In the center of the of arena a stage starts to rise up from the there were six figures, five of them had instruments, one standing in front and the last one stood also in front of the mic. The fog started to lift and revealed, Hinata and Naruto. Everyone was looking at Hinata or who they thought was Hinata. It's like she was the Anti-Hinata. She was wearing black knee high leather boots. She had on a black and red school girl short skirt. She had on for a top was a black leather corset her remained the same but had black highlights. A piano starts to play and Hinata starts to sing. (Hinata/Naruto)
How can you see into my eyes like open doors?
Leading you down into my core where I've become so numb
Without a soul, my spirit sleeping somewhere cold
Until you find it there and lead it back home
Wake me up
(Wake me up inside)
I can't wake up
(Wake me up inside)
Save me
(Call my name and save me from the dark)
Wake me up
(Bid my blood to run)
I can't wake up
(Before I come undone)
Save me
(Save me from the nothing I've become)
Now that I know what I'm without
You can't just leave me
Breathe into me and make me real
Bring me to life
Wake me up
(Wake me up inside)
I can't wake up
(Wake me up inside)
Save me
(Call my name and save me from the dark)
Wake me up
(Bid my blood to run)
I can't wake up
(Before I come undone)
Save me
(Save me from the nothing I've become)
I've been living a lie
There's nothing inside
Bring me to life
Frozen inside without your touch
Without your love, darling
Only you are the life among the dead
All this time, I can't believe I couldn't see
Kept in the dark but you were there in front of me
I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems
Got to open my eyes to everything
Without thought, without voice, without a soul
Don't let me die here
There must be something more
Bring me to life
Wake me up
(Wake me up inside)
I can't wake up
(Wake me up inside)
Save me
(Call my name and save me from the dark)
Wake me up
(Bid my blood to run)
I can't wake up
(Before I come undone)
Save me
(Save me from the nothing I've become)
I've been living a lie
There's nothing inside
Bring me to life
When the song ended the rookies were full of question. Why was Hinata singing? and when did they set this up?well two answer that let's go back a few hours.
Flash Back six hours before
Naruto was waking to his teams training area and found Hinata standing in front of the Memorial stone. He walks up to her , but stops half way and smirked at his idea he just had. Then continues to walk to her and asked "Hinata, do you like to sing?"
End Flash Back
Naruto then jumps off the stage and walks the proctor and Neji.
"Are both of you ready to start?" Neji nodded his head, while Naruto took the sword off his back and said, "Let's go." Genma nodded, and said, "Let the first match of the finals, BEGIN."
